What I’m Currently Watching #11

01Nov

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to post #11 on What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. I know this was meant to be out on Friday but time has not been my friend recently so it’s out today instead. Also this is a pretty meaty session, so try and make it through the entire set. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers below…

Alpha House (Season 2)

The first season of Alpha House was good, I wouldn’t call it essential TV or super funny as a comedy show, but it had a great cast, interesting stories and a good deal of entertainment. So I started season 2 pretty quickly, at first it was a little strange to see things change so much for the main characters Gil John, Robert, Louis and Andy, however it allowed us to see different sides of their personalities, their struggles and interactions with other characters. I think I found this season not only funnier but more emotionally investing than the last because I’d set time with these characters from last season, but also because I believe the situations and jokes felt better than before. John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Matt Malloy and Mark Consuelos are awesome in their roles and have such a great sense of chemistry and fun, in addition to that I really liked the character development for Andy and Robert. I’m a bit gutted that there’s not more of this show because I believe it could go on for at least two more seasons, but alas I guess for the time being things ended with season 2.

South Park (Season 19) “Tweek x Craig”

This week’s episode was great, I really liked it. Bringing something as strange yaoi into SP was definitely going to be interesting and this episode delivered with its approach to that and political correctness when it comes to gay couples. I just loved how this episode treated the concept of being a homosexual in modern South Park with girls finding yaoi cute and boys being confused, and the adults finding young gay love progressive and sweet. It was great how Craig and Tweek treated the situation especially when it came to the break up with Tweek making a dramatic speech and leaving Craig looking like the asshole haha. This episode also felt like a minor link/continuation of the comment the mayor made about Craig being gay in “City Part of Town“. This episode was all sorts of bizarre from all the artwork of Craig and Tweek together to Cartman’s weird little cupid fairy thing to those hilarious songs played during the montages (I swear there was one that sounded like Peter Gabriel, that was great). The only stuff I didn’t like was that Cartman cupid fairy, that was weird and I didn’t need it.

Castle (Season 8) “The Nose”

After a week away from Castle (which felt wrong) I’m back again to talk about “The Nose” and this episode was pretty good. The case wasn’t too interesting, but it was the characters around it that made the episode good. The main selling point of this episode was Mia Laszlo, a woman suffering from hyperosmia (a heightened sense of smell) and how she factored heavily into the case and Castle’s quest to get Beckett back, at first she was a little too frustrating for my liking but once her and Castle start bonding they end up having some hilarious and heart-warming moments together. Ryan and Esposito had their regular fun antics mixed in with a little drama with Espo getting the promotion while Ryan didn’t, and the random point when Ryan shot Espo in the ass, that was ridiculously funny. At this point I should mention that the whole Beckett and Castle separation thing has worn out its welcome and just needs to get sorted because the show, while still functioning, just doesn’t feel the same and more and more I’m wishing the show would have ended with season 7.

Supergirl “Pilot”

So here we are with Supergirl’s first episode, and despite my hesitation from the trailers to be honest the episode wasn’t half bad. Best way to describe this episode is that it is Superman’s story all over again, except this time it’s from Kara Zor-El’s perspective as Supergirl. What we have is a lot of similar superhero origin elements to Superman when it comes to Kara’s first acts of heroism, becoming a notable superhero and finding her place in the world, but there are a few unique differences and modernisation involved with this episode that helps make this show stand on its own. This episode had some fun stuff in terms of Kara becoming a superhero, learning of not only the secret organisation monitoring alien activity but also the villain Vartox and how he works for a shady group of villain’s headed by Kara’s auntie! There’s some interest revelations, humour and action with some impressive visual effects and a great central performance from Melissa Benoist who is very likeable and charming as the title character. With the whole “girl power” element wasn’t as heavy-handed as I thought it’d be, there were a few times where certain comments were made that just made me roll my eyes. I also have to admit I have a few other issues like 1) There’s an inconsistency with the action sequences when it comes to Kara fighting or flying, I know this is network TV so the visual effects won’t be amazing, but on several occasions when there was a blend of stunt work and CGI it looked like it didn’t gel well of flow properly. And 2) As much as I liked the tone of and feel of the show with a nice balance of drama and humour (kind of like The Flash), there were some moments that felt quite cheesy whether it be through the dialogue or choice of music in the soundtrack.

The Flash “The Fury of Firestorm”

The Flash continues to be a really solid show with more character development, strong themes about accepting change, letting go and moving on, and there was some interesting story points too. The big thing in this episode was dealing with Professor Stein unstable nature and his need to fuse with someone to become Firestorm again, and it was pretty cool to see Henry Hewitt and Jefferson Jackson, two potential candidates for Stein’s merger come along with their personalities and traits and branch off onto different moral paths. It has been said already but it bares mentioning again… HOLY SHIT, IT’S A FRIGGING MAN SHARK ON LAND! This was spoiled for me on the internet prior to watching the episode on Wednesday morning, but seeing it in action was no less surprising, I mean that dude comes out of nowhere, grabs Flash and is pretty much read to take him out, were it not for Patty and the timely appearance of Harrison Wells with his fancy gun, Flash would have been killed right there and then. I’m curious how Barry’s gonna react to seeing Wells again and what this different Wells from another dimension has to say to Barry.

Arrow (Season 4) “Beyond Redemption”

“Beyond Redemption” was a pretty solid episode and may be my favourite of the season so far. It had some great action, interesting story elements and good character development as well. I liked the idea of there being corrupt cops within the Star City police force, it illustrated how hard times had gotten for not only Captain Lance but the rogue cops as well, and it created some interesting moral and ethical dilemmas. In addition to that I appreciated Oliver going for the position of Mayor, it presents interesting opportunities for the future of the how but also allowed the people around him to reassess who is and how much he cares about the city. This was big episode for Lance as: 1) His alliance with Damien was discovered. 2) He found out about Sara’s resurrection and almost killed her. 3) And he had to deal with the corrupt members of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force and helped save Oliver in a tight spot. I’ve not been a fan of this character for a while but this was his most solid material in a while and I liked him a lot.

Moonbeam City “Lasers and Liars”

“Lasers and Liars” was a pretty good episode and to a degree I liked it more than the last. The opening with Dazzle with those two women in the van was hilarious mainly due to him having sex with them but them allowing the van to crash into a gash station and explode, that was random and amazing. But the other aspect I really liked was Dazzle hooking up with Panache, who we later find out is Pizzaz’s sister, this allowed for not only some tension between the two sisters and funny moments for Dazzle but it also expanded on the mythology of Moonbeam City and Pizzaz’s heritage. I really liked the ridiculous nature of Pizzaz’s sisters not only with their names but also with their personalities and obsession with slapping. With Pizzaz and her issues with her sisters breaking her down I thought that could have been a great moment for Dazzle to come in and defend her, but no, that didn’t come to pass. My issue with this episode (besides the levels of randomness and stupidity), is that after the main conflict is resolved it doesn’t add up to anything, there’s no proper satisfying conclusion. This show lacks character development and continuity, those are my two key issues. While not all comedy shows require those two things, it is those elements that make shows like Parks and Rec, Community, South Park and many others worth watching, and I believe this show could benefit from that.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 2) “Always Two There Are”

So far, I love this season’s direction and after the end of last week’s episode I was hyped to see more. “Always Two There Are” was great, it showed the continued complex relationship between Commander Rex and Kanan, dedicated screen time to Sabine, Zeb and Chopper, and introduced new obstacles for the characters to overcome. The one of the major aspects of this show I was looking forward to was the two Inquisitors (specifically Sarah Michelle Gellar as the Seventh Sister) and they were great. I really enjoyed how easily SS was able to subdue Ezra and it was her plan to capture him and Sabine to lure the Jedi in to be killed. The episode illustrated how she was not only good with a lightsaber, but also how creepy, smart and seductive she could be especially when interrogating Ezra. I was I genuinely feared for these characters and their safety and wasn’t sure how they’d make it out of there alive, but quick thinking and luck was on their side when they escaped. I really liked how Zeb was handled, he’s not really had many moments to shine in this series, but this episode showed that he could be resourceful and heroic even against the likes of the Inquisitors. Once again I have to give this show praise for its presentation, the art, lighting, and animation were great, but in conjunction with the music it worked so well, it especially added drama and intensity to some of the action sequences. And that ending with Kanan, Hera and Rex contemplating about the information that just got from their comrades really adds to the sense of dread, fear and mystery that will surely follow as the series progresses.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching too. Until next Friday people, laters! 😀

One response to “What I’m Currently Watching #11”

Hello there! I see you’ve been busy with a lot of TV. I also caught up on some shows this past weekend. I like the state of the Arrow team, they seem to be more or less on the same page for now, except that Sara’s resurrection is not known to everyone yet. I think when Constantine drops by, he’ll help Sara. I thought it was funny when the team reacted to Oliver running for Mayor. It was also cool when Det. Lance came into the new Arrow Cave. One of the best scenes is probably when Det. Lance and Oliver had their argument, but actually showed us something we haven’t considered in their relationship before. I’m pumped for the next Arrow ep.!